


Pretty As A Summer Rose

by caesar



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BFF EreHisu, Carla Yeager Owns A Flower Shop, F/M, Florist AU, Fluff, Language of Flowers, Mutual Pining, RivaHisu, rated only for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 17:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17585441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caesar/pseuds/caesar
Summary: "I work as a florist and every day you walk in, buy a flower, and give it to me" AU prompt.Levi tells Historia that he's falling for her through each flower that he gives her.





	Pretty As A Summer Rose

**Author's Note:**

> (forewarning: I tried to research what I could about the meanings of flowers but if you know more than I do then please correct me lol)
> 
> here’s a couple of dorks in love

He came in for the first time on a not so special day.

 

Historia remembers him because he looked incredibly out of place in the flower shop—then again, most scowling men do. He wanders the aisles of flowers, individually cut and ready to be put together in an arrangement; some of the popular options were also available in grab and go bouquets, such as roses, carnations, and the like. He lingers in a specific section before glancing around, so Historia approaches him and politely offers her help.

 

“What can I help you find?”

 

The man is shorter up close than she thought, but is still taller than herself. His eyes are a dark storm of blues, and his expression makes him look incredibly unapproachable. Somehow through this aura of _don’t fucking talk to me_ , Historia isn’t intimidated, feeling surprisingly curious about this man. Yet, he shows that capable of thinking of others, telling her, “I came to get flowers for my mother.”

 

That helps her narrow down possible arrangements.

 

Mildly. “Any specific occasion?”

 

“It’s her birthday. I was trying to find red poppies.” His eyes cast downward, and understanding dawns on her.

 

Red poppies mean sacrifice and remembrance.

 

He seems to be aware of this symbolism, due to his thorny demeanor, so she brushes off his prickly attitude. She guides him to the flower in question, and he doesn’t say anything other than how many flowers. She puts together a small bouquet, tying a matching red ribbon around the stems. He accepts it gratefully, muttering a hushed “Thanks.”

 

As swiftly as he entered the shop, he’s gone.

 

She carries a tender ache in her chest the rest of that day.

 

* * *

 

He doesn’t come back for a week, looking significantly more upbeat than he did before.

 

…which just meant that he didn’t look like he hated the world around him. He just looked incredibly _bored_ and Historia doesn’t think she’s ever seen anyone look so unimpressed in her life. When he peruses the different flowers, she watches him from her place an aisle over as she spruces up a batch of roses, double-checking that they’re all trimmed appropriately, thankful that Eren is manning the counter while she hides amidst the bouquets. From between the plants, she can see that her grumpy man looks more relaxed than he had before, despite the tension that is probably permanent in his shoulders.

 

He’s looking at the less popular flowers, some that bloom in their current season, early spring. Luckily Carla can grow almost anything in her greenhouse throughout the year, keeping them as one of the best stocked shops in the city of Trost. Historia gets on her toes, peering over at what he’s browsing for—gladiolus? As if he’s aware of her eyes on him, he turns around and catches her staring. Her eyes widen and she hides behind the white roses in front of her, wishing she could just crawl under the tables until he’s gone. She can distantly hear Eren laughing and she nearly throws a planter at him.

 

A few minutes pass, the telltale ring of the register processing a sale signaling that the subject of her interest will be leaving any minute. She straightens the displays before her as she sighs, her neck still burning from humiliation at being caught staring.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

His low voice is jarring, and her head snaps around to find him standing within arm’s reach of her. She forgets how to speak, taken by the sight of him; up close, he’s actually _insanely_ handsome. He looks tired, dark bags under his eyes, but his hair looks soft and she thinks that maybe he looks grouchy because of the lines set around his lips from consistent frowning.

 

And he’s _blushing_.

 

Historia does the same in turn when he holds out a single flower to her. She quickly recognizes a Gloxinia, the vibrant pink petals trimmed with white easily giving it away. She stares at the flower dumbly until he furrows his brow uncomfortably.

 

“It’s for you.”

 

_Oh._

 

“T-Thank you,” she stutters, carefully plucking it from his grasp, their fingers touching for the briefest of seconds. He hurries past her once she’s focused on the gifted flower, her fingers gingerly feeling the softness of the brightly colored petals. She jumps and nearly drops her gift when Eren’s voice loudly shatters the moment.

 

“Damn, Historia. I think we just found you a husband,” he grins, his brilliant green eyes glittering with amusement. Her face burns in a concoction of embarrassment and annoyance with her best friend. At her lack of understanding, Eren’s smile falters, and he looks serious for a moment. “Do you know what Gloxinias symbolize?”

 

She looks down again at the flower, twirling it between her fingers. “No, I guess not. We don’t sell as many of these.”

 

Eren’s smile returns full force, emerald eyes shining.

 

“It shows love at first sight.”

 

* * *

 

Another week passes.

 

Historia has no idea what this man’s name is, but she’s positive that Eren’s mistaken that the flower _meant_ anything significant to him. Maybe it was just a token of appreciation for helping him find meaningful flowers for his mother?

 

It has to be.

 

She might die if that’s not the case because she has _no_ idea how to begin to talk to him. She’s not scared of him, but he doesn’t seem like the friendly type, either.

 

When he comes back, she’s unaware of his presence at first. She hears the bell chime when the door opens, but she thinks nothing of it, organizing a display of various small planters on the far wall. She leans over the table to reach the far ones but gives no second thought to her position, considering her skirt is definitely long enough to cover her backside if she bends over too far. She’s humming quietly along to the song playing on a low volume over the speakers, something indie and upbeat. She doesn’t hear a familiar voice talking to Eren, but she _does_ hear Eren chuckle, bringing her attention back to reality.

 

Historia looks over her shoulder, and nearly falls on the planters she’s straightening when she spots her new regular looking at the floor and positively flushed crimson.

 

She’s _very_ aware she was just bent over this table and he had a perfect view of her ass.

 

She turns around fully and straightens her posture, tilting her chin up so she can look him in the eye whenever he looks at her. When he finally does, the color doesn’t go away, and she can’t help but find him so endearing and precious, despite his usually unwelcoming demeanor.

 

“Hey,” Historia greets him pathetically. She pretends not to notice the flower he’s holding by his side.

 

He bites his lower lip nervously. “Hi.” He holds out the single flower; this week it’s an orchid.

 

 _Refined beauty_ , she thinks to herself. Butterflies take flight in her belly, and she smiles fondly at him as she accepts the gift. The petals are white with flecks of light purple, and she can’t help but touch the petals—they’re so velvety to the touch. “Thank you.” She wants to see him smile, but he looks like he might vomit instead. When he begins to turn around to leave, he hesitates when she quickly says, “My name is Historia.”

 

He avoids her gaze as he replies, “I’m Levi,” before practically sprinting out of the store.

 

She lowers her gaze to the flower, her mind wandering.

 

* * *

 

Each week, he comes back, gifting her a single flower each time. He says hello, she thanks him, and he all but runs away from her each time.

 

After the orchid, he’s given her a purple lilac, moonflower, and Gardenia. He’s reminded her of the first emotions of love, he’s dreaming of love, and then commented of his secret love, all silently through his choices of flowers.

 

They’re on week six, and all she knows about him is that his name is Levi, he works a corporate job, and that his mother is dead.

 

She sighs, sweeping up the remains of a dropped terrarium, trying to hide her disappointment; the shops closes in an hour and it’s well past Levi’s normal arrival time. She wonders if he gave up on her—she wouldn’t blame him since they barely talk to each other and she hasn’t really given him any sign of reciprocation of his feelings. She’s so absorbed in her overthinking that she misses him coming in and talking to Eren, misses the ring of the register, misses Eren’s obnoxious voice talking about her favorite flower, and just overall nearly missing Levi in general.

 

Until he taps her shoulder, making her spin around and knock _another_ terrarium off the counter, hitting the ground loudly as it shatters. Levi looks as startled as she is as well as guilty, the emotion only growing as Historia exclaims, “ _Damn it!_ ” As she takes notice of who made her jump, she feels her anger dissipate, replaced with a mixture of relief and distress.

 

And then she does the unthinkable—she’s practically crying _._

 

No, she _is_ crying.

 

Levi’s eyes are as large as plates as he sees a few stray tears fall; he has no idea how to comfort the distraught woman, reaching out to take the broom from her as she takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly, replacing her broom in her hands with the flower for the day before she can protest.

 

“Levi, please—you don’t have to do this, it’s not your fault—“ She tries to take back her broom with no success, Levi shaking his head firmly.

 

“I startled you, and you’re upset. Let me help.”

 

Historia wants to argue, but she can’t find it in her to do so. She lets out a defeated sigh and she looks at the flower between her hand—or rather, _flowers_. A single stem carries a few small blooming forget-me-not flowers, their pastel color dazing Historia for a moment as she processes what she’s holding.

 

“These are my favorite flowers,” she tells him softly, her heart absolutely fucking _pounding_ in her chest as she looks back up at him. His face is the deepest shade of red she’s seen yet, reaching his ears as he finishes cleaning her mess in a third of the time she would have taken.

 

“I know.” Realizing what he said, he avoids her gaze, somehow going _redder_ —does he have any blood left anywhere else in his body?—as he explains, “I mean, I didn’t—ah, fuck. I asked Eren.”

 

The wind feels like it’s knocked out of her lungs. She wants to hug Eren and punch him all at once.

 

Maybe she’ll strangle him after closing. “It’s lovely.”

 

Levi meets her eyes again, and she sees the beginning of a smile on his lips.

 

* * *

 

The following week is a few days before Mother’s Day, and they are _slammed_.

 

Historia wants to scream once the day is through because of all the stupid, idiotic people who waited until the last minute to get their bouquets and don’t understand why certain flowers that are grown out of season are more expensive and _no your child can’t play with a bouquet and take it apart and not pay for it_.

 

Carla Yeager was present from open to close, and Eren was at her side majority of the day, running the shop as her right hand man. As much as Historia pokes fun at Eren for being so aloof sometimes, he really comes into his own when he’s pushed to do better by his mother, who is as fiery as her son if not more so. Historia leaves the room if they fight because it’s too much to handle.

 

The shop is finally empty of customers and they’re pretty much done cleaning save for a final sweep of missed petals and dust on the ground. Eren, despite being exhausted, looks devious as he eyes Historia from across the shop. She catches his mischievous expression and rolls her eyes. “What is it?”

 

Carla answers for him. “You had a visitor today.”

 

The color drains from Historia’s face—she forgot that it’s Friday, and more importantly she realizes that she completely _missed_ Levi. She tries to hide her frustration with herself from Carla, who knows better. “What did he say?”

 

“He left you another flower, of course,” Eren chimes in.

 

Historia bounds across the shop, reaching across the counter to swat at him. When she turns back to Carla, she asks timidly, “What did he leave?” Carla wordlessly hands her a devil’s snare flower, the petals elongated and white, stark against its deep green stem. Historia turns it in her hand curiously, confused. “Why devil’s snare?”

 

“Oh, honey, it’s also called thornapple.”

 

Even Eren looks off-put, unimpressed by Levi’s choice this week. His mother looks quite the opposite, humming in approval. “What does that one symbolize, mom?”

 

Carla just laughs kindly, a knowing smile on her lips. “It means that he dreamt of you, Historia.”

 

* * *

 

This time, Historia is ready for Levi.

 

The day is slow and she’s alone while Eren is on break; she’s combing through the carnations, ensuring that any wilting flowers are pulled when the bell for the door chimes. Levi is standing in the threshold, looking taken aback when he only sees Historia. She gives him a welcoming smile and a warm, “Hi, Levi.”

 

Levi just nods in acknowledgment, his body language incredibly uncomfortable.

 

He begins his routine of roaming the shop, avoiding the aisle she’s straightening out. When she notices him hovering, she leaves to take her place behind the counter, waiting for him to approach her. It takes him a solid twenty minutes before he comes up with a single flower, his face flushed as usual. She can understand that at least this time, it may be slightly awkward to buy the flower from her and also give it to her right after.

 

So she saves his skin, flashing him a fond smile.

 

“Instead of paying for it, let’s just trade for today, yeah?”

 

Levi couldn’t possibly seem more confused at her words, cocking an eyebrow at her. Historia reaches under the counter to pull out a single flower of her own, presenting it to Levi with anxiety twisting her gut tightly. He accepts the red tulip from her, not missing a beat in handing her a red rose.

 

They’re both simple, clear gestures to one another.

 

“Can I take you out for dinner tonight?” Levi suddenly blurts out, tearing his gaze from the perfectly bloomed tulip he’s cradling like it’s a treasure.

 

Historia holds the rose to her chest, unable to keep herself from smiling so radiantly that Levi thinks she puts the sun to shame. “I would love that.”

**Author's Note:**

> this was self-indulgent fluff for nicole because she asked for it and also for my rivahisu discord fam because y'all are so sweet
> 
> much love


End file.
